Amazon is spoiling us with Garmin deals in its Prime Big Deal Days sale, with several of the best sports watches dropping to their lowest price ever. That includes the Garmin Fenix 7, and you actually have a choice of models in the sale, with both the standard Fenix 7 and larger Fenix 7X Solar both reduced significantly in the UK.
The Garmin Fenix 7X Solar is the more eye-catching deal, because the £240 discount is huge and so is the watch, with its larger frame offering more room for a bigger screen and battery than you get with the Fenix 7, and it also has solar panels to extend its battery life further.
However, having tested and reviewed Garmins for many years, including almost all of the current range, I’d say the Fenix 7 is the better deal. For one, it’s a smaller, lighter watch that’s more comfortable to wear all the time than the Fenix 7X, and it’s also simply a lot cheaper than the larger watch in the sale at £419.99 vs £539.99.
I tested the Fenix 7X Solar Sapphire model for our review on Coach and while there are definite benefits to the bigger watch, the larger size is also a drawback at times since it is heftier and less comfortable to wear 24/7. The battery life of the 7X Solar is excellent and it will last weeks on a charge, but unless you live in a sunny place and spend hours outdoors every day, the solar panels won’t add much in the way of battery life (I've written in-depth about whether Garmin’s solar panels are worth it).
It’s also important to note that the Fenix 7X Solar is not a sapphire model, and so doesn’t have multi-band GPS, neither does the discounted Fenix 7. Both watches are still accurate GPS trackers using the all-systems-on mode, but there’s no mutli-band boost even if you opt for the pricier Fenix 7X Solar.
If you have large wrists and simply want the biggest and best battery life available in the sales, then the Garmin Fenix 7X Solar is the one to get—this is still an excellent deal—but having used a variety of Fenix models of different sizes, I think the Fenix 7 will work better for most people, and it’s £120 cheaper.
